Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens Review (Escondido Restaurants)

Pricing:

While you can find a few bargain dishes, realistically you are looking to spend about $12-25 per plate for dinner.  The beer averages about $8-10 a glass.

Distance:

An Escondido restaurant.  Takes about 30 minutes to get to from Encinitas.  If you go on a Friday or Saturday night, expect freeway traffic.

Thoughts:

It should be clearly understood that Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens (Stone Brewery) is an event, not a restaurant.  This fact is blaringly obvious from almost the first moment you open the door and enter their gift shop, not the dining establishment itself.  Racks of Stone Brewery paraphernalia from sweatshirts to shot glasses must be passed by before one could even consider putting a name down for dinner.

If you manage to make it out of the gift shop unscathed, putting your name on their waiting list should be done with all possible haste.  Since reservations or call-ins are not allowed at this venue, the wait is about forty-five minutes to an hour on almost any given evening.  On a Friday or Saturday night, expect an hour and a half wait.

Once actually seated, the dining experience has both good points and bad points.  Stone Brewery obviously put great care into creating their atmosphere.  Lush foliage, romantic lighting, rustic furniture and beautiful stone walls coupled with the ever present hum of conversation makes you feel like you’re actually “going out on the town.” 

The menu presents a variety of dishes but is somewhat baffling to read.  In an effort to be creative and funny, the menu writers decided to forgo the traditional section titles such as “appetizers,” “entrees, or “desserts.” Instead, they clump together your selections like classified ads and head them with confusing labels such as “things you could eat before other things” or “things you could eat after some other stuff or maybe with stuff.”  This is amusing for about ten seconds.  But once everyone has chuckled over the novelty and the low blood sugar starts to set in, you really just end up wishing you knew where to look to order a substantial meal.

With options such as burgers, pasta, and cheese plates, Stone Brewery could best be described as American cuisine. I have had a cheeseburger and tomato-mozzarella pasta there.  The food is filling and tasty but not especially memorable.  It is also a bit on the pricey side, but not obscene.  Expect to pay about twelve dollars for a burger.

This brings us to the beer.  Unlike the food menu, the beer menu is abundantly clear.  There is absolutely no question in your mind as to what Stone Brewery has to offer in this arena.  For a local brewery, the sheer number of house beers that they offer is very impressive.  In the stores, Stone only offers about five or six different types of beer for purchase.  The restaurant offers well over twenty.  If not for the food, this alone would be a good reason to visit Stone Brewery more than once.

After one or two of their beers, any agitation you may have felt about how long it took for you to get a table or for a server to come and take your food order usually melts away and you find yourself enjoying the experience.  Even the Stone Brewery golf balls start to look more appealing as you weave your way back through the gift shop.

Stone Brewery could be compared to Casa De Bandini or The Cheesecake Factory.  Quite simply, you go to these types of restaurants because they are a crowded ordeal.  There are plenty of places where you could walk in and be instantly seated.  If speed is a concern, there are always drive-through or pick-up food establishments.  You eat at Stone Brewery to have an evening activity.